Hi milk lovers,
Just a few more points before this gets too OT.
In reference to the correlation between dairy consumption and
osteoporosis, I'm sure that there are other factors involved, for example
Marshall mentioned cola beverages. However women from Japan, India and
Africa who take no dairy at all have stronger bones than their western
counterparts. (Ref: Dr. Nan Kathryn Fuchs, PhD, Womens Health Letter, Mar.
1994) Whilst there may be parts of Africa where the ubiquitous Coca Cola
has not reached, I'm sure the Japanese and Indians are no strangers to
carbonated cola beverages.
I don't have actual references regarding dairy causing calcium depletion
but I will quote Dr. Neil Barnard MD, president of the American Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine:
"The animal protein in cow's milk causes calcium wastage and calcium loss
from the bone."
It is actually the phosphorous from the animal protein that pulls the
calcium from the bones, just as it is the phosphoric acid in cola drinks
that does the same. It is also interesting to note, for the same reason,
that vegetarians have stronger bones than omnivores and carnivores.
Regardless of the causative factor it is obvious from the statistics that,
at best, a high dairy intake does nothing to restore calcium to the bone
matrix.
Osteoporosis aside, the real problem with milk today is, as ole Bob
mentioned, its homogenization. Because of the small size of fat particles
in homogenized milk, you absorb more fat from drinking a glass of
homogenized whole milk than from drinking a glass of cream. However it is
not the fat that is the danger but, as Tracy touched on, the xanthene
oxidase (XO). This substance, found in cow's milk, is normally too large
to be absorbed through the intestinal membranes. Homogenization reduces
its particle size, along with the fat, and both are absorbed easily.
Unfortunately XO destroys plasmalogen which makes up one third of the
arterial cell membrane. As I understand it, the body's defence against
such a dangerous situation is to repair and cover the injured arterial
walls with deposits of plaque. Without this reapair mechanism, of which
cholesterol is an essential part (that's another story), we would be in
major trouble. The sad part is that as we continue to ingest and absorb
XO in our milk, the plaque builds up on our arterial walls. This is
called arteriosclerosis and ultimately leads to heart disease and strokes.
(Ref: Dr. Kurt A. Oster MD. et al, "The XO Factor" 1995)
Prior to homogenization of milk, heart disease was very rare with some
doctors never seeing a case. Today heart disease is the leading cause (by
some margin) of death in Western countries. While that link might be a
bit too tenuous for some people, the following figures may be quite
illuminating. They are quoted from Dr. Stephen Seely in Medical
Hypotheses, 7, 1981, 907. They are best viewed in a non-proportional
font.
Country Homogenized milk Heart Attack Rates
in grams/day
--------------------------------------------------------------
Finland 30.4 Finland had:
Germany 14.1 Double the rate of Germany
Yugoslavia 8.1 Four times Yugoslavia
Japan 2.5 Ten times Japan
To a statistical purist, these figures produce a beautiful graph, one that
is hard to refute.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the eating of red meat leads to a 2.5 times
increase in colon cancer risk, but only if you had cow's milk as an
infant.
Keep those milkshakes coming. :-)
Salut
Mike Fuller
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